There was a soft knock on Kerri's door. She awoke slowly, and it took her a minute to realize that Raoul was kneeling next to her head. That would have been perfectly acceptable, except for the fact that she was naked, lying next to Erik. He seemed unfazed.

"We need to talk."

This was either very bad, or very very bad. But for the moment, she would play it off.

"Give me a minute." She sat up slowly as he left, looking for signs of explosives, and/or sharp objects that Raoul could 'accidentally' push him in to.

Satisfied, she put on her robe, and went outside.

"Why are you waking me up at…" She grabbed his pocket watch and checked the time. "8 A.M?"

"You shouldn't be sleeping anyway." Raoul should have been screaming at her, or stringing Erik up by his toes. But civil conversation? This was worse than Kerri thought.

"I'm sorry about last night." Kerri crossed her arms, scuffing the carpet with her toe. "But really, I thought you were going to kill him."

"Oh, I was." Raoul nodded. "But that's not why I wanted to talk to you. Well, it is, but…"He took a deep breath. "If his staying her makes you happy, then I will allow it."

Kerri's jaw dropped.

"But there are conditions Kerri, and none of them are negotiable."

She nodded obediently. Listen first, use her little sister puppy eyes later.

"He's not staying in your room."

"Okay."

"And I won't have you staying up until all hours of the night with him, either. Eleven o' clock is the latest."

"Midnight."

Raoul gave her a look.

"Raoul, you know how I am."

"Eleven thirty. And you're not allowed to be alone with him. Ever."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Are you married?"

Kerri blushed. "No."

"Then you're not allowed to be alone with him. I don't care if he can kill me in my sleep."

"The Duke gets to be alone with me." Kerri pointed out.

"No he doesn't. There will be plenty of servants and maids watching."

"What are they going to do, bash his head in with a silver platter?"

"Why are you fighting me on this?"

"Because I know how to take care of myself."

"I have no doubt of that. But it's not him hurting you I'm worried about."

Kerri fidgeted under Raoul's gaze.

"What are you going to wear today?"

"Something that says 'You're not getting it."

Raoul laughed.

"You over estimate his intentions."

"And you underestimate his libido."

"I didn't know men that old had libido's."

Kerri almost made a comment about Erik. She decided that was pushing her luck,

"I do have one question to ask."

"What?"

"Why him? You could've had anybody, you could have been anybody."

"I don't want anybody, Raoul."

She smiled, and kissed him on both cheeks.

"You're a bigger man than I give you credit for."

He smiled, and watched her return to her room.

"Marie!" She called, leaning against the door."

"What's the matter?"

"Feel my forehead. Am I hot? I feel sick."

"What? Why? What's going on?"

"Raoul. He just told me that Erik can stay. And there were no yelling or death threats."

"What are you getting all excited about now?" Erik sat up, putting on a cotton robe that matched the pants he'd slept in.

"Raoul came in her to talk to me and saw us, and he didn't chop your head off." She paused.

"How are your ribs?"

"Broken." He shrugged. The black eye was a sick yellowish/grey color, mixed with splotches of red.

"Well, since the both of you are up now, would you like some breakfast?" Marie clasped her hands together.

"No thank you." Kerri shook her head.

"You should eat something." Erik suggested.

"I'm not the one with broken bones." She retorted.

"Do you have any fruit?" Erik turned. Marie grinned.

"I'll see what I can find."

Kerri sat down in a nearby chair, propping her feet up on the ottoman.

"So what did your brother have to say?"

"He gave me rules."

Erik raised his eyebrows.

"I have a curfew now. Eleven thirty. And we're not allowed to sleep together anymore." She smiled.

"And we're not allowed to be alone. Ever."

"Well, he certainly covered everything."

"I didn't tell him about the ring."

"I would never have expected you to."

"But he did ask."

"Did he now? How would he know?"

"Well, he didn't ask, he kind of made a comment, but I think he meant more by it."

"You think?"

"It feels that way. Maybe I'm over analyzing it."

"Over analyzing what?" Marie asked, putting a tray of assorted fruits on a small table at the end of the bed.

"Well I didn't mean clean out the kitchen." Erik commented.

"Oh, there's more. I just thought I would give you something of everything."

"Everything indeed." He snorted. "Grape?" He offered the tray to Kerri. She took a handful of raspberries, and a plum.

"So what are you wearing to lunch, miss?"

Kerri groaned.

"It's not even ten o' clock! I don't want to think about it." She popped a few raspberries into her mouth.

"If you think about it long enough, maybe it won't happen." Erik suggested.

"I'm not that lucky."

"Or you could wear a sign." Marie suggested mockingly.

"And would it say? 'Already engaged?"

As soon as Kerri said it, she covered her mouth, and blushed.

"What did you just say?" Marie whipped around.

"Nothing." She replied meekly. "What did you hear?"

"I thought I heard you say that you were already engaged. Now, I know that you aren't, because if you were, I would be forced to tell you how crazy and stupid you were, because you know that if your mother, or father, or Raoul found out, they would send you to some far off convent right after they butchered Erik."

"It's amazing how often insanity and love take up residence in the same person at the same time." He speculated.

"And to Erik, I would ask how careless are you, because you know that it would never work out, because not only is she only seventeen, but she is also nobility. You are not."

"Now, if I had proposed to Kerri, and she had said yes, and you had said all of those things, then I would be forced to point out two things. One would be that you are about five seconds older than she is, and two would be that I let one woman go, and it almost tore me apart. I won' let that happen again."

"And I would say that if my parents or brother found out, I wouldn't care what they did to me. It would be worth it."

Marie held her head in her hands.

"That's it, I'm telling my mother."

"She already knows." Erik bit into an apple.

"What?" Both girls glared at him.

"How do you think I bought it? Wished the thing into existence?"

"Delia!"

"Mother!"

A few moments later, Delia came into the room, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Well, aren't I popular?" She sighed.

"You knew!" Kerri cried. "You knew, and you didn't tell me!"

"Or me!" Marie added.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you two are shouting about." She crossed her arms.

"Oh yes you do!" Kerri held up her left hand. You knew he was going to propose and you didn't tell me!"

"I knew nothing of it. He gave me money, and told me to buy you a ring. I had no idea what it was for."

"Mother, be realistic." Marie chided.

"I'm not talking to either of you." Kerri declared, flopping down on the bed dramatically.

"Do I at least get forgiveness points for picking out a pretty one?"

"No." She replied flatly. Delia rolled her eyes, and looked at her daughter.

"What about you? Are you speaking to me, or should I plan on conversing with Raphael for today?"

"Yes I'm speaking to you." Marie replied adversely.

"Good. Come along then. We have lots of work to do; Margaret and Gwen are home with a cold." She stopped on her way out the door.

"And I would suggest wearing the black dress, Kerri."

She made a noise of disregard.

"I think she's planning to." Erik chimed, shaking his head at her stubbornness.

A moment later, Delia popped her head back in.

"And yes, I know about the rules. I'm trusting that she'll be stubborn until noon."

Kerri made another high pitched noise as she left.

When he was sure Delia wasn't coming back, Erik rose and stood over Kerri backwards, so that she was upside down.

"Until my dying day?"

Kerri stared at him for a moment, determined not to be seduced by his eyes.

"Until the end of time." She replied finally. He kissed her. She licked her lips.

"Mmm. Cherries. I approve."

"So, what dress is Delia talking about?" He sighed. She sat up, pointing to her closet.

"The only black dress I own."

He pulled something out and showed it to her.

"That's the one."

Erik examined it more closely, and made a face.

"It's…"

"Frumpy." She finished. She nodded.

"Maybe if I dress like I'm his age, he'll lose interest."

"Or maybe he'll think it's intriguing."

She moaned.

"Don't tell me that! I still have some hope that he dies suddenly and mysteriously."

She moved to her armoire, taking out underwear, petticoats, and her corset.

"You really need all of that?" Erik asked, following her to the screen.

"No; I don't need half of this stuff. But it's fashion." She paused. "The whole purpose of a screen is to keep people from watching you dress."

"But I've already seen you naked."

"Touché. But if that is so, then why do married women use them?" She slipped out of her robe, shimmying into the undergarments.

"And I'm not even going to attempt to put this on." She snorted, eying the corset, and tossing it onto the bed. She sat on top of her desk, crossing her ankles and swinging her legs.

"You know, technically, we're breaking the rules." Erik put his hand up against the wall behind her.

"Rules are made to be broken."

"Well, when you put it that way…"

Christine was so afraid, but she needed to talk to him. She needed to figure herself out, and this situation. Of course, there was no way Raoul would put the two of them in a room together. So she left a note saying she was visiting Meg.

She snuck through the servants passages, going in the general direction of Kerri's bedroom. There was a doorknob on a panel. She slid it to one side, letting a sliver of light through.

When she saw it, she gasped, and looked away.

Kerri was sitting on her desk, face buried in Erik's shoulder, one leg draped over his shoulder. Her nails were digging into his lower back as he, well…you know."

She felt like some dirty old man, but she was also incredibly curious. She'd never seen anyone else have sex. Of course at the opera house, the older ballerinas couldn't shut up about it, but hearing about it and seeing it were two very different things.

In the end, Christine's curiosity won, because she found herself holding her breath, not blinking, and watching.

"Oh God…" Kerri whispered as the breath caught in her throat and her hips arched to meet his. She felt herself approach the climax and her nails break skin. Erik groaned, and with one final thrust, spilled his seed in side of her while riding one of the richest orgasms either of them had ever experienced.

"You're bleeding." Kerri gasped, showing him her stained fingertips.

"I'll live." He nodded, unsure of whether he could walk without his knees giving out.

After a minute, he went to the wash stand, retrieving a basin full of steaming water and a wash cloth. He soaked it in the tub, and it took Kerri a minute to realize what he was doing.

"Erik, you don't have to do that."

"Kerri, I know this might seem stupid, but the last thing I need is for you to get pregnant."

"Erik, really, don't worry about it." She touched his hand as it rested against her thigh.

"Kerri…"

"Would you let me finish?"

He remained silent.

"Thank you." She paused. "When I was ten, I fell off Michael Angelo…"

"You do that often."

She smiled.

"I hit a fallen branch on the way down. The doctors said it would be next to impossible for me to get pregnant." She touched his face.

"Don't look so depressed. I doubt either of us would make top-notch parents anyway."

"What makes you say that?"

Kerri hopped off the desk, straightening out her skirt.

"Look at us! I'm still a child, and you're, well…."

"Say it Kerri."

"Not." She finished. He chuckled.

"You put it so delicately."

"Part of my training."

"Training?"

"To be a lady." She grinned. "I failed on purpose."

He kissed her forehead, lacing their fingers together.

"So much for being stubborn." She kissed his chest.

"It's hard to stay angry with someone you love."

"I was never angry with you. I wasn't even really angry at Delia. Hopefully, you will never have to see me angry, especially not with you."

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Kerri smiled. "Exactly."

She looked at the dress laid out on her bed and sighed.

"I don't want to go to lunch. I want to stay here with you, cooped up all day in this room, with music, and poetry, and painting…"

Erik hugged her.

"That sounds better than Heaven itself at the moment, but I'm afraid what we want and what we are required to do aren't always the same thing."

"Try never." She snorted.

"Well, if you're the kind of woman who loves socializing, festive galas for any and all occasions, girls who gossip…"

Kerri pretended to gag. Erik laughed.

"Then this is the perfect life for you."

"Promise me something Erik."

"Anything."

"If I ever turn into my mother, you'll kill me."

"I couldn't do that."

"Trust me, if I turn into my mother, you'll want to murder me."

He sighed. "We'll see."